Striking down opponents
Jonathan Papelbon reminds me of Jules, Samuel L. Jackson’s Bible-quoting hit man in Pulp Fiction. He’s not black or an assassin, but the ultra-poised right-handed pitcher serves up killer fastballs and sliders while keeping his religious faith nearby. Narrowly escaping serious injury after being struck by a batted ball during a spring-training game against the Twins, he quipped characteristically, “Hopefully, the Big Man above was watching out for me.”
Papelbon made an impression on his teammates during a 2005 spring-training game when he threw a brush-back pitch to the Orioles’ Sammy Sosa a half-inning after Baltimore pitcher Daniel Cabrera came inside on Kevin Youkilis and hit Jay Payton. It was an early demonstration of the kind of preternatural poise that enabled the big hurler (6’4”, 230) with the Southern accent, while in limited service, to emerge last year as perhaps the Sox’ most reliable reliever down the stretch.
Starting the 2005 season with the Sox’ AA affiliate in Portland, Papelbon quickly climbed to AAA Pawtucket, and then, ahead of schedule, to the big club in Boston. He went 3-1 in 17 games, striking out twice as many batters as he walked, and compiled an impressive 2.65 earned-run average. Among a talented crop of pitchers rising through the farm system, Papelbon is the only one to earn the big team’s full confidence so far.
Despite lobbying by Schilling for the young pitcher to join the starting rotation, Papelbon will begin the season in the Sox bullpen — a not-insignificant role, since he is likely to become the team’s closer if Foulke is unable to recapture his 2004 form. Still technically a rookie, the Mississippi State University product is a candidate for American League Rookie of the Year. Over the longer haul, as someone in the actions-speak-louder-than-words vein of such old-school teammates as Jason Varitek and Trot Nixon, Papelbon is a likely bridge to Boston’s next generation of players.
Papelbon invites regular comparisons with former Boston great Roger Clemens — a grouping that would pose considerable psychic weight for most young pitchers — yet he seems unfazed. One knowledgeable observer calls Papelbon “a very level-headed kid. He doesn’t seem to buy into the hype. He really knows who he is and stays within himself, to use an old baseball phrase.” Or, as Gammons puts it, “He’s definitely got a guy-on-the-stage personality.”
A new kind of idiot
If Papelbon is cool and rational, Josh Beckett is hot and emotional. A case in point is how he exulted, dramatically pumping his fist, when a Philadelphia base runner was thrown out at the plate during a March 26 game, as if it had all the significance of a big pennant contest. “Don’t tell him it’s spring training,” quipped NESN play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo.
Beckett won considerable gratitude from Sox Nation following Boston’s seventh-game championship-series debacle of 2003. After a solid outing for the Florida Marlins in game three of the ensuing World Series, he came back on short rest in game six, notching a complete game shutout against the Yankees, sending the New Yorkers to their first post-season series loss in the Bronx in 22 years. Although questions remain about the durability of the hard-throwing 25-year-old righty (he has experienced shoulder tendonitis and blister problems), Beckett’s got primo stuff and looked sharp during spring training.
As a slightly grungy and sometimes wild-eyed guy who doesn’t always watch what he says, Beckett is a throwback to the Idiots. Competitive and intense, the rangy Texas native (6’4”, 190) can be very contradictory, privately savoring the World Series triumph, for example, while publicly expressing his gratitude that the 2003 season was over so he could go deer hunting.
Rest assured, however, that Beckett’s competitive juices will flow when he takes the hill this season for the Sox. Barring injury, he will strive to top his career-best season with the Marlins last year (15-8, 3.38 ERA over 179 innings). And considering how he nearly scrapped with the Phillies’ Ryan Howard after accusing him of showboating during that March 26 spring-training game, the pitcher seems amply primed and pumped for the season ahead. As “Red” wrote on the Sox fan sitewww.survivinggrady.com, “Seeing this display just a few games after the ‘accidental plunkfest’ with New York tells me that the 2006 team has as much spice as its predecessors. And that’s a good thing.”
On the Web:
The Boston Red Sox: //www.redsox.com/
The Pawtucket Red Sox: //www.pawsox.com/
Mike Miliard's Sox Blog: //www.thephoenix.com/soxblog/
Sons of Sam Horn: //www.sonsofsamhorn.net/
Soxaholix: //www.soxaholix.com/
Surviving Grady: //www.survivinggrady.com/
